The USC Institute for Global Health aims to improve global health by educating future and current global health leaders, carrying out trans-disciplinary research, and assuring that the evidence collected informs policy and practice to make a difference.

Roles and Responsibilities in Realizing Health and Human Rights in the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases

The Program on Global Health & Human Rights at the USC Institute for Global Health developed an open-access online short course on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and human rights. Analysis of this topic began when the Program on Global Health & Human Rights convened health care workers, lawyers, activists and researchers from every region of the world at USC in May 2013 to examine how the fields of public health and human rights can unite to tackle non-communicable diseases. Participants represented major universities, the United Nations system, and civil society groups. With funding from the Merck Company Foundation, the meeting and subsequent report recognized that links between health and human rights are increasingly documented in areas such as HIV/AIDS and children’s health, but not in the area of NCD prevention and control. The report emphasizes ways a human rights framework can ensure government accountability in preventing and controlling NCDs and underscores the need for more research, a stimulated political agenda and an informed and active civil society.

Articles & Reports:

Through systematic review and annotation of the peer-reviewed literature, this working paper aims to clarify and contextualize current debates on the roles and responsibilities of the pharmaceutical sector in advancing health-related human rights.